the president v david hicks on sbs

[Dutchy]

Why should he serve his sentence here?

[Sojourner]

Hairy eyed brow howard must demand hicks be brought back to australia to a prison and can be sent back to the US for trial and returned to serve his sentance in australia.

Why should he serve time in an Australian Jail? Why should he be brought back to Australia? He is so keen to go and fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan, if he is found guilty, let his serve his sentance there, the Australian Government is under no obligation to bring terrorists back to Australia so that they can have a better time in jail than overseas.

The trial will come around sooner rather than later, his own people have to take a share of the blame for holding up his trial by their own hold ups in appeals legal proceedings.

If he is found not guilty, fly him back to Australia and give him some type of compensation payout. If he is found guilty of training with Al-Queda, fly him back in a body bag in the cargo hold after being hung.

Why should taxpayers funds be wasted in paying to retrive and host a terrorist in an Australian Jail? How many Australians were killed in the world trade centre and in Bali? As uncaring as it may sound, there has to be a reckoning for that.

[Dutchy]

Hairy eyed brow howard must demand hicks be brought back to australia to a prison and can be sent back to the US for trial and returned to serve his sentance in australia.

Why should he serve time in an Australian Jail? Why should he be brought back to Australia? He is so keen to go and fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan, if he is found guilty, let his serve his sentance there, the Australian Government is under no obligation to bring terrorists back to Australia so that they can have a better time in jail than overseas.

The trial will come around sooner rather than later, his own people have to take a share of the blame for holding up his trial by their own hold ups in appeals legal proceedings.

If he is found not guilty, fly him back to Australia and give him some type of compensation payout. If he is found guilty of training with Al-Queda, fly him back in a body bag in the cargo hold after being hung.

Why should taxpayers funds be wasted in paying to retrive and host a terrorist in an Australian Jail? How many Australians were killed in the world trade centre and in Bali? As uncaring as it may sound, there has to be a reckoning for that.

[dash61]

Dutchy

The US wether true or false would make an air tight case against hicks anyway, so yes he will be guilty but we never hear from the USA leaders that backed suddam hussain against iraq and the mudjahadeen which osama bin laden was member fighting the soviets with US backing.

Hicks probably is guilty but my arguement is the treatment he receives, if it was an aussie or US soldier getting that treatment in north korea or iran the politicians would be breaking down doors to get a release from custody

[heater31]

Pardon my Ignorance but are we not Fighting a war against muslim extremists and Still occupying the country that he was captured in????? In my book he is still a Prisioner of War and should be kept that way. Hicks should be thankful that he wasn't captured 65 years ago and forced to build a railway by hand.

[dash61]

??? How many innocent Iraqi's have died during and since the war against terror, the yanks or mr howard would never release these figure because there would be an outcry...

The snowtown murders, bryant, von eiman, ivan milak etc are really doing it hard in prison , they killed many and ruined families lives but you say hicks who never fired a bullet in battles is the pitts of society,,

Take a footy look at it in adelaide and compare to David Hicks

60% Barrack for Adel Crows

35% barrack for the power

5% like me barrack for essendon or their club of choice

David Hicks chose to barrack and play for RICHMOND, do we lock him up for that

[dash61]

So my question to all is???????

David hicks was born and bred in adelaide, loved richmond, went to melbourne, did a full preseason with them, got arrested and never played a game for them

?????Is he a Richmond player or a nothing who never made the grade?????

My answer is he was a misguided lad who got in with the wrong crowd, he had intent to fight against his own but didnt do this, he has a penalty to serve but do you sentence him in a one sided court or give him a fair trial and let him serve a penalty or any penalty here in Australia. Not some pig pen in cuba, why isnt he in an american prison being treated like a human being

[therisingblues]

Dash61 is correct in his assertations that what the USA is guilty of would shock the living shit out of most people. Those that wouldn't be shocked would be the baddest asses on this Earth.
I also sympathise with Red and Black's take on all this that anyone deserves a trial, no matter how rotten they are. The main reason for this is that once you set a precedent, you are leaving a door open for all sorts of opportunists to exploit. Following this could be a man who is as peaceful as Nanook the Eskimo, but his views could differ to a very powerful group of people tucked safely away in some wing of the Pentagon (or the White House), and they could decide to do the same as they have done to Hicks to this Nanook like man.
Hence, everyone deserves a trial, in times of peace.

On the other hand, however, when a nation is at war, and a source of information is captured, putting him on trial to learn what he potentially knows about the enemy is folly. Intelligence is one of the most powerful devices in a war. In "The Art of War" the ancient Chinese Book on conflict and competition, spies are regarded as the most valuable of an army's assets, purely because knowledge of the enemy can affect the entire strategy of battle, or even a war.
Bearing this in mind, the West would be on a losing streak if they treated every prisoner of war as a man with rights, who is entitled to whatever lawyers as regular money can afford. They would never learn anything of worth. It could be that what Hicks knows could cost the lives of dozens of people, but how would a trial reveal that information? And then, if he is proven innocent because the prosecution just didn't have enough hard facts, then dozens of people could die.
I guess the world is at War with an often unseen enemy. There are bad, bad things happening in this world, and what is wrong or right is getting more and more twisted. I really think that now is a very important time for people to start thinking about what is good, or just, rather than what the system tries to construe as right. This time around they haven't arrested a Nanook, when there is a war you shouldn't dress up like and hang out with the enemy.

[Dutchy]

Dutchy

The US wether true or false would make an air tight case against hicks anyway, so yes he will be guilty but we never hear from the USA leaders that backed suddam hussain against iraq and the mudjahadeen which osama bin laden was member fighting the soviets with US backing.

Hicks probably is guilty but my arguement is the treatment he receives, if it was an aussie or US soldier getting that treatment in north korea or iran the politicians would be breaking down doors to get a release from custody

As I said earlier there are to seperate topics and should be kept that way-

How he has been treated
If he is guilty

[redandblack]

That's well reasoned, TRB, but Hicks is not a prisoner of war. Not even the Americans are claiming that, and they certainly aren't applying the Geneva Convention rules to him, apart from anything else. He also hasn't broken any Australian Law. He hasn't even been charged with anything after more than 5 years and if he is and eventually gets to Court, it will be an American Military Court that has already been ruled out by the US Supreme Court as being totally unconstitutional, before Bush changed the law.

Everyone, including me, knows Hicks is an idiot and deserves any punishment a fair court would apply, but that's not the point. You make the excellent point about precedent, TRB, and you're right. Once you go down this path, it's easy to do the same again and again, with the flimsiest of evidence. Surely we should be fighting for the very principle of a fair trial, which is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society.

As far as America goes, I've been there many times and love the place and the people. I'm not so keen on the current leaders and I'm no orphan in thinking their judgement, decision-making and standards aren't up to scratch.

Cue anothergrub to call someone a DH

[Dutchy]

The snowtown murders, bryant, von eiman, ivan milak etc are really doing it hard in prison , they killed many and ruined families lives but you say hicks who never fired a bullet in battles is the pitts of society,,

sometimes you have to be proactive to get these guys off the streets not wait until he blows up the Santos building before we act...if that occured imagine the outcry that we didnt keep him locked up!

[dash61]

Santos Building

I was more worried the target would be Popeye on the torrens or a paddle boat

My point is, put in one of our prisons, not the pig pen he is in, the kid would no longer have any will and would be so traumatised it would not be funny,

In Prison (yes, or what the court finds)

In Cuba (No that is a joke)

[Pseudo]

Hairy eyed brow howard must demand hicks be brought back to australia to a prison and can be sent back to the US for trial and returned to serve his sentance in australia.

Hicks is not an American citizen, nor was he on US soil when he committed his alleged crimes. He might have been fighting against US forces, but then so were a lot of Afghanis. I don't see why he should have to answer to septic law.

[Snaggletooth Tiger]

Septic Law?
Their law is whatever suits them first & foremost!
(Even at the expense of their allies!)
Little Johnny is truly Bush's glove puppet... Piss him off!
Stand up for yourself Australia!
Don't let some halfwit in a cowboy hat dictate how we live our lives!
ie.
1.) Bush suggests more Nuclear power... Howard wants to build plants in Oz!
2.) Bush opposes abortion... Howard brings up the issue in Oz!
3.) Bush invades Iraq while Osama bin Laden's still at large in Afghanistan... Howard jumps aboard!
Although I'm not opposed to the ousting of that prick Saddam Hussein (who would be?)
I'm sick to death of that arrogant,out-dated sawnoff little Napoleon 'allegedly' running our country!
...& believe me, I'm no lefty!
I just HATE an f'n Suck-Up!
Specially when he ignores his own country's needs!